John Love
Born in Inverness, John Love graduated in zoology at Aberdeen University. In 1975 he went to live on the Isle of Rum where he managed a highly successful project to reintroduce the white-tailed sea eagle. While he remains involved with birds of prey, seabirds are another passion. After Rum, John worked as a warden in the Cairngorms for two years before heading west, ultimately to become Area Officer for Scottish Natural Heritage for Uist, Barra and St Kilda and has now lived in South Uist (Outer Hebrides) for 26 years. Over the years he has enjoyed holidays in Kenya, Egypt, India, Galapagos, Namibia and Botswana. In the 1990s John acted as guide and lecturer on several small charter vessels round the Hebrides, and has also lectured on cruises, round Scotland and to Norway, for the National Trust for Scotland.
He first worked for Noble Caledonia in 2008 and now participates in various expedition cruises for three to five months each year. This is mainly around the UK - and the Hebrides in particular - but he has also voyaged round Ireland, northern France, Iceland and the Faroes, Norway, the White Sea, the Seychelles, the Maldives, the Tanzanian/Mozambique coast, northern Madagascar and, most recently, New Zealand, the Lesser Antilles and Alaska.
John has written and illustrated books on sea otters, eagles and penguins, on the human history of the Isle of Rum, and natural histories of lighthouses and of St Kilda. His interests are wide, and include drawing, photography, traditional music and playing the fiddle.